More Than Half of MT Marijuana Dispensaries Haven’t Paid State Tax

Montana marijuana providers appear to be moving a little slower than normal when it comes to following the law. According to Mary Anne Dunwell from the Montana Department of Revenue, taxes for the months since July were due on October 15th and so far, some payments are quite high.

"It's about $7.5 million in provider gross revenues," Dunwell said. "About 315 providers have reported and paid the tax. The average payment was about $800, but there are some exceptions, we had a handful of providers who remitted more than $10,000 in provider tax, one paid more than $30,000."

Dunwell says more than half of registered providers still hadn’t paid tax as of Friday, five days after the bill was due.

"We did get in about 350 who reported,but they still owe the tax and we are working with those, but we do encourage providers, if they have not yet submitted their reports and remitted their tax payment then they really need to do that," Dunwell said.

Dunwell says the Department of Revenue has offered some grace to those who haven’t paid their taxes in light of the fact that tax is new this year, however, if they don’t pay soon, fines will accrue.